As a business executive with a large association in the state of Virginia, we value all of our employees.  It is important to support all of our employees and their families so we may attract and retain the best workers and help them be happy and productive employees by enabling them to take care of their families. 

We provide coverage for all of our families and their dependants (if they choose to put them on our plan) irrespective of the size of the family.   A selfish person might argue it is not appropriate or fair to provide coverage to extremely large families as single employees or couples without children receive less from our organization, but our employees and leadership are not selfish.  We choose to support all of our employees and make coverage available so that our employees know we appreciate their contribution and the myriad life situations that make our diverse workforce dynamic and successful.  The best and most innovative companies in our state and country have similar policies. 

The proposal to extend health coverage by the state of Virginia will not add cost to the state or taxpayers as the individual will have to pay for the coverage, but it does overcome an obstacle to hiring and retaining excellent employees.  The coverage does not provide full equity as the coverage will be free to "traditional" families and it also imposes a negative tax burden for those utilizing the option, but it is a reasonable compromise.  I appreciate the effort of fair minded people to find a solution that extends health coverage to state employees without increasing the cost to the state. 

It is often suggested that a more fair approach might be to provide each employee with a stipend for their benefits that permits each employee to "buy" their preferred benefits.  This approach would treat each employee fairly.   I do not support this approach as it would create problems for many of our families, especially those with many children.  So the better approach is to provide at least some coverage for all of our families, as this proposal permits, especially since it is cost neutral to the state.